Puzzle Box Hearts
by nicsnort
Summary: (Sequel to 'The Riddle of Love') They confessed their love but not to each other. For these two confident criminals it should be no big deal right? Well maybe not when Elizabeth has closed up and Edward has to try and unlock the woman she once was.
1. One Week Later

**Welcome, welcome, welcome back! Okay so this is how this story is going to work, because I'm updating my CraneXOC story currently as well I will be posting these chapters once every month. 'What! Once a Month' you say. Yes once a month however, they all will be longer than the chapters of 'The Riddle of Love' (all over 3000 instead of 2000) as soon as I am done with 'The Bookworm and the Beast' I will switch to updating this story every two weeks.  
****So for this chapter I would recommend re-reading the last chapter of 'The Riddle of Love' (as this story starts almost immediately after) but I will be doing a re-hashing of everything important in this chapter and the next so it's not critical (if you've just gotten done reading the first it might get a bit tedious but push on it'll be worth it). Anyways I hope you enjoy!**

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Elizabeth Howard had no opinion on her life. Like many lives it was full of good and bad things but for her each and every good thing seemed to be perfectly balanced by the bad. For example; it was good that she did not have to pay her current hospital bills. However, it was bad that this was due to the fact that she was currently in police custody. Good: she was rescued from being held captive for two and half months. Bad: she was most certainly going to jail for robbery and the murder of at least thirteen people. Good: somehow she seemed to have avoided insanity. Bad: the police were currently taking her only source of comfort as evidence.

"Give it back!" Elizabeth yelled at the officer as he roughly grabbed the green jacket away from her.

"This is police evidence." The officer said.

"Fuck police evidence that's mine!" The jacket belonged to the Riddler it was the one that he had wrapped around her shoulders after he had helped rescue her and it was the one she had been clinging to since. "Give it back!"

Elizabeth tugged and pulled at the leather restraints holding her wrists to the bed but they wouldn't give. The heartbeat monitor was beeping wildly calling the nurses in. They tried to calm Elizabeth but she just kept demanding the jacket returned.

"Please officer you are distressing the patient can't you return the jacket."

"No, Miss this is police evidence."

"But why do you it need it now? Can't you leave it until later?"

"Why so this freak can cuddle it?"

"Freak!" Elizabeth roared forgetting about the jacket for a moment.

"Yeah," the officer said, "you're a freak, a monster, an experiment gone wrong and you want me to give back the jacket of another freak jus…" The officer trailed off. Elizabeth had gone eerily still, no movement, no expression, just the piercing gaze of a predator. The nurses who had been trying to hold her down released her backing away slowly.

"You've insulted me officer. I don't like to be insulted. When people insult me they only do so once. Officer I don't need to know your name just your scent." Elizabeth sniffed deeply her eyes closing for just a second before snapping back open. "And I will remember you…Of course I might forget it accidently if you give me back that jacket."

The officer's hands tightened around the evidence bag. "No. I don't give in to threats from monsters like you." And with that the officer turned and left. Elizabeth slumped back on to her pillows disappointed by her failed attempt at intimidation. The nurses checked her pulse and asked her repeatedly if she was okay. Elizabeth nodded and she didn't even respond when they checked her restraints tightening them even further. She turned her head to the side breathing in the lingering scent of her only comfort that would be gone tomorrow when they changed the sheets.

The next day Elizabeth was lying in her bed, as she had been for the past week, when two officers entered the room followed by an older looking gentleman in a white lab coat.

"Good morning, Miss…Elizabeth."

"What do you want?"

"To talk. I'm here on behalf of GCPD they want me to see if you are mentally ready to answer some questions about the events that happened."

"It's alright you can say my imprisonment or whatever the term is."

"Then you are willing to talk to me?"

"What makes you qualified?"

"Well I am a state psychologist."

"So was Dr. Grout yet he believed I was fine until I crashed the Vreeland party."

"Are you saying that you purposefully lied to Dr. Grout?"

"No, I'm saying that only person I've seen do psychology well is Dr. Crane."

"Mr. Crane is no longer a doctor. It doesn't matter though, Miss Elizabeth, what matters is that you need to trust me. I'm not going to tell anyone what you tell me I am merely here for an evaluation."

Elizabeth looked the man up and down, his greying hair, hollowed face, and ruffled jacket, he looked like a man who had been stretched and released so many times he no longer held his shape. "How often do you do this?"

"Quite a bit, I just never have with someone who…well…someone with your background."

"You mean a killer." The doctor fidgeted with the hem of his lab coat telling her that she was correct. "Take off you lab coat."

"What? Why?"

"Because then I'll let you "evaluate" me." Looking slightly disgruntled though still very pleased that she was complying the doctor immediately slipped off the coat and hung if on the back of his chair.

"Thank you Miss H—Elizabeth. Now for my first question, why did you have me remove me coat?"

Elizabeth sighed; she was regretting her agreement already. "Because you looked too much like him."

"Like Cain Cuvier?"

Elizabeth's teeth clenched together at the sound of the name. "Yes."

"And people who look like him bother you?"

"Obviously."

"Why is that?"

Elizabeth dug her finger nails into the flesh of her palms and released them slowly. "Why do you think doctor? That man tortured me for two and half months surely if I wasn't bothered by his memory _that_ would mean something is wrong with me."

"I wasn't implying that anything was wrong with you."

Elizabeth laughed but it was lifeless laughter. "Of course you weren't." The doctor coughed awkwardly unsure of how to respond. "Go on doctor ask you next question, I have all day but I'm sure you don't."

"Thank you, uh, can you tell me, what is your relationship to the Riddler?"

"Partner in crime."

"And that is all? Then why did the Riddler come to your rescue?"

"Edward Nygma came to my rescue not the Riddler."

The doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Edward Nygma is the Riddler."

"Exactly but the Riddler is not Edward Nygma. The same way I am the Wolf but the Wolf is not me. When Edward wears his suit, puts on his mask, and twirls his cane he is the Riddler; but when he hangs his bowler hat in the morning after a night of crime he is simply Edward Nygma, the man who likes classical music, enjoys three meat pizza, and points out all the errors he spots in a movie."

"You speak of him as though he is a normal man."

"Under all the green I think he might be…next question doctor I'm bored of this one."

"I—very well, Miss Elizabeth can you tell me—"

"Hey!" Someone shouted from the door cutting off the doctor. "Who the hell are you?"

The doctor stood quickly, grabbing his coat as another man stormed into the room. "Wait I know you, you're one of those scumbag reporters from The Tattler. What were you doing with my client!?"

"Just a small interview thanks for your participation!" The "doctor" slipped past the other man and ran out the door.

"Stay away from her!" The man shouted down the hall before closing the door gently. "Good afternoon Elizabeth, how are you?"

"What the hell was all that and who the hell are you?"

"Sorry, I am Richard Peterson, your lawyer and that worm was a reporter from The Tattler."

"He said he was a psychologist of the state, he had two police officers with him."

"All reporters, it's something they've pulled before. Tell me, what did he ask you?"

"Well how do I know that you are who you say you are? Show me your license." Peterson smiled and pulled out his wallet, placing the BAR license in front of her face so she could read it. "Excellent. He asked me, why I asked him to remove his coat and what my relationship with the Riddler was. What I want to know though is why am I only just seeing you, I've been here a week."

"Excellent question, I took over this case from your previous lawyer, you might remember him, he came and talked to you your first day here and you tried to attack him. Anyways, I took over this case at the behest of my usual client, Edward Nygma."

"Edward sent you," Elizabeth said a small smile forming on her lips.

"Yes, now down to business. The detectives are coming today to take your statement. Now make sure you tell the truth about what happened to you with Cuvier but don't answer any questions about your relationship with Mr. Nygma or really anything else. Now I'll be here with you because Bullock can get rough sometimes when he meets criminals."

"God damn it, Bullock. That's just what I need," she muttered under her breath.

"I know he can be hard to handle but I've dealt with him many times before."

"Heh, where were you when he interrogated me for the Wayne Industries incident? God, I swear if it wasn't for his partner…" Elizabeth trailed off with a roll of her eyes. There was a knock on the door at point and a short slightly chubby nurse popped her head in.

"Sir, it's time to change her bandages, if you could step out for a moment."

"Of course," Peterson said standing. "It's been a pleasure meeting you Miss Elizabeth." He stuck out his hand to shake her hand; he held it out for several long seconds before he realized that Elizabeth was cuffed to the bed. "Ah, yes, I'll be outside." With that he left Elizabeth and the nurse alone in the room.

"Good afternoon, Elizabeth, how are you today?" The nurse asked wheeling the small cart of medical supplies by Elizabeth's bedside.

"Decent," Elizabeth replied, "I would be doing much better if the doctors un-cuffed me."

"Oh you know we can't do that, we have to think of the safety of the other patients." As she spoke the nurse undid the thick leather buckle that held Elizabeth's right arm to the bed. "Be grateful that we undo them for this."

The nurse allowed Elizabeth to flex and stretch her arm before taking it to undo the old bandages. Elizabeth looked away from the wounds as they were revealed. They weren't overly gruesome but wounds reminded Elizabeth of her weakness during her time with Cuvier. Cuvier had forced her into a psychotic state with every experiment, Elizabeth had resisted as first but eventually she gave up. The bite marks on her arms were caused by her own teeth in her desperate attempts to maintain control over her psyche and they were a reminder of her weakness.

Soon the nurse had finished with her arms and instructed her to sit up. Elizabeth did as instructed lifting her head as high as she could, allowing the nurse to more easily reach around and undo the bandages on her neck. Her teeth clenched together as the cool hospital air hit the burn encircling her neck, however, Elizabeth didn't mind this wound like she did the ones on her arms. This burn was caused by the electrical collar Cuvier had been forced to use on her to make her submit. Yes, she had given in, in the end but the presence of the burn reminded her of how long it had taken him to break her and how desperate he was.

"Okay you can lay back down, last one." Elizabeth did as she was told and closed her eyes as the nurse removed the thick bandage over her right eye. The nurse used a dry cloth to wipe away the gel-like antiseptic. It still stung a bit when she reapplied the medicine and Elizabeth breathed in sharply. According to the doctor she had been lucky that she was rescued when she was if the cut had gone untreated for any longer the infection might have spread to her eye. This gash wound most definitely scar and it was the only wound Elizabeth couldn't remember receiving. Sure there were a few other various cuts and bruises but a head wound this size surely would be memorable. Unless it had happened after Alyssa had been subjected to the serum. She could barely remember anything after that.

A slight frown crossed Elizabeth's face. Everyone still refused to tell her what happened to Alyssa. She assumed they hadn't found her yet but the officers she had asked could at least tell her that; tell her they were looking. God. What if they weren't looking? What if she was dead? No. No! Alyssa had to be alive. She had survived the serum, she saw it. Cuvier said they needed to run tests on her. She had to be alive.

"Are you okay?" The nurse asked waving her hand in front of her face.

Elizabeth blinked. "Yeah, yeah, just thinking."

"Good, would you like me to send your lawyer back in?" The nurse said strapping Elizabeth back onto the bed.

"Yes. Thank you." The nurse left and Elizabeth realized that she hadn't asked her name. Even though that nurse had been attending to her for the past week Elizabeth had never asked. It didn't matter in the long run though. What did matter was her lawyer slipping back into the room.

"So, Elizabeth, I snuck down to the lobby while you were busy, Bullock and Montoya are on their way up."

"Oh joy."

"Yes. Now remember, answer their questions with a little info as you can, make them pry for details. Don't say anything to incriminate yourself or Mr. Nygma, obviously. I'll be here to make sure Bullock doesn't get too rough so don't be afraid to use sarcasm and insult them like Mr. Nygma."

Elizabeth laughed. Edward would insult the cops. She would try and avoid it however, riling them up would do her no good. A knock on the door signaled the arrival of the detectives.

"Come in," Elizabeth called out. When the impressively fat detective and his Mexican partner Elizabeth pretended to be shocked. Maybe she'd be a little sarcastic. "Detectives, what a surprise."

"Shut it freak." Bullock said in his usual gruff tone and then he spotted Elizabeth's lawyer. "For fuck's sake, not you."

Elizabeth looked over at her lawyer who had gone very stony faced. "Is that a threat, detective Bullock?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"Bullock." Montoya warned.

"Yeah, yeah. Not the time." Bullock groaned moving further into the room so the Montoya could enter properly.

"Good afternoon, Miss Howard." Montoya said ignoring Elizabeth's lawyer and Bullock by refusing to look at either of them. Elizabeth visibly stiffened at being called Miss Howard but she managed to maintain her cool.

"Good afternoon, detective. How can I help you?"

"We were wondering if you could answer some questions for us, about what happened between you and Cain Cuvier."

"Yes, I can do that."

"Yeah, you can freak."

"Bullock quiet. I told you that I'm conducting this interview." Bullock sighed, 'whatever', and slumped down on one of the metal hospital chairs causing it to groan under his weight.

"May I sit Miss Howard?" Montoya asked gesturing to the seat on the side of the bed opposing Peterson. Elizabeth's body tensed again at being called that name.

"Call me Elizabeth and please feel free."

"Thank you, now Miss Elizabeth some of the questions may seem tedious but please answer to the best of your ability. If you feel uncomfortable with a question you may decline to answer but remember we are here to help." Bullock scoffed in the corner of the room but Montoya didn't acknowledge him. "Now, how and when did you and Cain Cuvier first meet?"

"A few days after my trial this summer I was walking down the street when a car pulled up next to me and forcibly suggested I get in. I didn't see where it took me as I was unconscious but when I awoke I was taken to see Cuvier." This was a very abridged telling but as Peterson had told her, no details.

"And what did Cuvier want at that time?"

"He wanted to cut a deal with me to help him figure out why his formula had worked on me and not others. I refused."

"And how did you escape?"

"Batman." Bullock scoffed when she said this.

"Why didn't you report this incident to the police?"

"I had just been declared innocent by reason of insanity. I really didn't need anything to do with the police."

"Did anything else involving Mr. Cuvier and yourself occur between the incident you just described and the most recent one?"

Elizabeth took a few seconds to answer. Cuvier had lured her to an abandoned apartment complex with intelligence she had garnered from the Falcone's, however Cuvier himself hadn't actually been there. Instead some of his thugs had tried to kidnap her again but this time Elizabeth had gotten the better of them by falling into the same unconscious rage that had sent her to Arkham in the first place. According to Batman he had gathered all the evidence that incriminated her, which Elizabeth managed to steal and destroy, but she still didn't want to confess to the murders at the moment. "No, we had no contact until the most recent incident."

"Can you describe how you were taken the second time?"

"Edward and I were out and a van pulled up. Guns were pointed at us and to avoid bloodshed I got in. When they put the guns away I tried to disable them but I had previously been injured and they got the better of me."

"And this was Edward Nygma you were with?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me how you were previously injured?"

"I had a broken rib. How I received it is not relevant." This was a lie. Elizabeth had received a broken rib when four of Cuvier's men had jumped her in an alley. She would have been fine if one of them had not shot her in the chest, luckily Elizabeth had been wearing her specially designed bullet proof suit. However, she didn't want to tell Montoya this as it could lead them to discovering that she had been with Edward selling their stolen goods to Penguin. She had no loyalty to Penguin but his Iceberg Lounge was a nice place and it wouldn't be right of her to have it investigated only a few months after opening.

"Very well, after you were taken what is the first thing you remember?"

"Waking up."

"Could you describe what you saw?"

"They had strapped me down, I couldn't see much. Just Cuvier but then they brought in Alyssa and Cuvier told me what he was going to do."

"And that was?"

"Alyssa was going to be his next test subject all the previous ones had died, you see, and he needed me to help him figure out how to make the serum work on her or else she would as well."

"And did you?"

"Yes." Elizabeth looked at Montoya trying to read her face. She was hiding something.

"What else did—"

"I know it worked." Elizabeth said suddenly interrupting her.

"What?"

"I know the serum worked I saw her, she lived! So where is she!?" Elizabeth was starting to get riled up and Montoya was trying to calm her down.

"She's dead, freak, and six feet under." Montoya rounded on Bullock and pulled him out of the room but the damaged had already been done.

* * *

**So I'm doing this question thing at the end of 'The Bookworm and the Beast' and I really like it so I'll do it here too.**

**Fox is coming out with a new show 'Gotham' this Fall, it's a prequel to the Batman story and focuses on the GCPD. For this story they are introducing an OC called Fish Mooney, a female African-American mob boss. It got me thinking that this show would be a great way to introduce a lot more diversity into the Batman cannon in their villains as of my last count in all of the reoccurring villains of Batman (including all of the Batman spin offs like Nightwing) there are only 24 independent female villains (independent meaning they solo, lead a group, and/or a major leading force in that group) and I can only think of a few (men and women) who are non-white. I find this very disappointing.**

**So finally my question: Should 'Gotham' use the opportunity to introduce new villainous characters or should they stick to doing the young versions of current villains?**


	2. You Have the Right

**I don't like this monthly updating it feels like I'm abandoning you. I need to do it though since I'm writing 'The Bookworm and the Beast' at the same time and studying for the GRE on top of work...I'm sorry. Aw well here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy. **

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Dead. Bullock's words rang in her ears. Alyssa was dead.

No. No. No.

It was impossible. She saw Alyssa alive. She survived the serum. Elizabeth had seen Alyssa survive, had seen her open her eyes. The golden eyes they now shared. Those eyes cannot be closed forever. No, she would not accept it. Alyssa could not be dead.

"Miss Elizabeth." Elizabeth turned her head slowly to look at her lawyer. "Miss Elizabeth I think—"

"Quiet." The soft growl was all that was need to for him to cease his, what were sure to be, pitiable attempts at comfort. She can't be dead. She can't be. Elizabeth's silence was soon broken by the sound of talking from outside the hospital room.

"What were you thinking?" Montoya's muffled voice said.

"What? She wanted to know so I told her."

"You went against orders, Gordon specifically told us not to tell her."

"These freaks don't need to be coddled you've seen what she's done she's a monster."

"You're impossible to work with Bullock! You think you know everything but you ever wonder why your landlord tried to kill you last month?"

"Because he's a freak." Montoya let loose a stifled roar of frustration.

"I have an interview to complete, if she'll even still talk to me after this, so you stay out here before you can reveal that she—"

"I think I should give this to you now." Elizabeth's jaws clenched together as Peterson's voice prevented her from hearing the rest of what Montoya said. "Here."

Elizabeth glanced over at the thing he was now holding. It was a scrap of cloth. Why the hell would she need a scrap of cloth? The lawyer moved forward and placed it on her pillow. Elizabeth turned her head and was greeted by a wave of familiar brown sugar.

"Edward." She said with a strained sigh. Hell, she needed more than just his scent right now.

"There was also a note. 'Elizabeth—"

"Not now." Elizabeth's words came not a second too soon as it was at that moment that Montoya open the door.

"Miss Elizabeth, I am terribly sorry for that, I know this must come as a shock to you but—"

"I would like to get this over as well." Elizabeth's tone was dead. Her finger tips had gone numb and her mouth was dry. "Mr. Peterson if you would be so kind as to fetch me some water."

"Of course." Her lawyer poured a small cup of water for her from the jug by her bedside table. He held it up to her lips and she took a sip. Her mouth was still dry.

"Thank you." She said as though the water had done some good. "Whenever you are ready officer."

"Thank you…after Cuvier told you what he wanted what happened?"

"I told him my theory, that it was my anti-depressive medication that allowed the formula to take effect and that I'd been taking it for a while and so would…anyone else. He told me that I better hope I am right then he had men bind my hands and feet together and they dragged me down into the basement and put me in a cage. They left me down there in the dark for ages. I realized that I wasn't alone that Alyssa was down there too, unconscious." Elizabeth stopped speaking her throat had suddenly gone thick as she remembered what she had told Alyssa. That this was all her fault. That she would get them out. Alyssa's death was all her fault.

"Some more water please." Elizabeth said with a gasp as she felt pinpricks forming in her eyes. Peterson held the cup up to her lips again, when it was lowered Elizabeth continued.

"They took Alyssa away not long after she woke up and I didn't really see her again until it was time to test the serum." She said this very quickly as the pinpricks started to grown into something dangerous.

"We don't need to continue, Miss Elizabeth." Montoya said with genuine concern and pity in her voice.

"No, no, I'm fine." Elizabeth turned her head taking in deep breath of Edward's scent from the cloth. "I'm fine. They took me out of the cage at the same time as Alyssa and put me in some sort of pit or observation theatre. Chained me to the wall so I couldn't move. Then three men were released into the pit with me. Three of Cuvier's thugs. He told me they had failed him and they were scared of me so were no longer of any use. Then some of the other thugs unchained me. I was told that I was to demonstrate my "abilities" and that these men were fighting for their lives. I can't remember the fight. That whole blackout psychotic-break thing happened again but I know that when my consciousness finally returned the men were dead."

"Miss Elizabeth," Peterson warned. She was straying dangerously near a confession of guilt.

Montoya's eyes flickered to Elizabeth's lawyer. "Were there anymore fights like that?"

"You don't have to answer that." Peterson said quickly before Elizabeth had a chance to answer.

Montoya looked off put that Peterson had denied her an answer but it was a common tactic of lawyers that she was used to. "What else can you remember? Can you describe what happened to you after that?"

Elizabeth breathed in slowly and then out. "I can't remember most of what happened. Days and weeks blur together but every day was the same. Cuvier attempted to push me over my mental limits and force me to physical extremes. On most days I believe he succeeded but as I said I can't really remember. Especially after…after the serum was tested on Alyssa."

"Thank you, one final question and then we can wrap this up. Can you recall and describe the events of the night you were rescued?"

"Yes. Edward saved me and I believe the Batman was there too."

"Anything else, like what happened to Cuvier?"

Elizabeth turned her head slowly so that she was looking Montoya straight in the eyes. She would've thought it impossible given how numb she felt but the reminder of what she had done to Cuvier lit a small spark inside her and Elizabeth smiled. Montoya's chin lifted slightly, a small sign of discomfort. Elizabeth's smiled faded and she turned her head back to the middle of her pillow. "I don't think my lawyer would want me to say, sorry detective. If that's all I think you should go now. I'm not feeling the best."

Montoya stood. "Of course, thank you for your time Miss Elizabeth. If you recall anything else you need only to call."

"Thank you." Montoya left and Elizabeth could hear the heavy footsteps of Bullock heading down the hall as the partners departed.

"Mr. Peterson I think it best if you left as well." Peterson nodded.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

Elizabeth didn't say anything as her lawyer left. The door closed behind him and Elizabeth was alone with her thoughts. Her dangerous, dangerous thoughts.

* * *

Peggy Schrader was usually a pleasant woman that was befitting of her position as head nurse of the 4th floor. However, one of her current charges was beginning to get to her. Elizabeth Howard. An insane mass murderer. Oh sure, Miss Howard pretended to be nice but Peggy could tell that just under those hideous golden eyes she was plotting something evil. She shouldn't be here in the hospital she should be locked away. So what if she had been captive for over two months her wounds were healing fine and it was time to send her on her way before something happened.

That's how it always was with these Rogue types. They'd come in with injuries from the Batman and then if they weren't moved out soon enough they'd try and escape. She had several scars across her chest from when Killer Croc tried to slice her open during an escape attempt. Usually the police could stop the Rogue in time but the uniformed officers had been removed from in front of Miss Howard's door. For who knows whatever reason, they said it was because she wasn't dangerous. But they were wrong Miss Howard was very dangerous. Whenever Peggy went to deliver Miss Howard's medicine she could see the evil murderous intent in her eyes, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Peggy's pager beeped and she looked down to see where she was needed. Room 436, great Miss Howard's room. With a hateful grumble Peggy stopped what she was doing and headed down the hall to Miss Howard's room. When she arrived there was already another nurse standing outside trying to get in.

"What's wrong?" Peggy asked approaching the younger nurse.

"The door is locked."

"This is a hospital the doors don't have locks. Move." The nurse moved and Peggy pushed against the door. There was some give, it wasn't locked but blocked. She must have broken out of her restraints.

"Miss Howard, open up!"

"She doesn't like to be called that." The young plump nurse who usually changed Miss Howard's bandages said.

"Who cares? Miss Howard open up or we are breaking this door down!" From behind the door the nurses heard a growl. Half a face appeared in the small window. Miss Howard was snarling her face scrunched up like a demon, her eyes were bloodshot and her face was streaked with red. The wound above her right eye had reopened and was steadily leaking blood. Miss Howard launched herself away from the window leaving a handprint of blood on the glass.

Peggy sighed, "Time to call security."

* * *

The sun had set behind the buildings and still the door to Elizabeth's room was barred. The security team had been unable to get in as Elizabeth had pushed all of the medical equipment against the door. This included the 600 pound hospital bed that, as an extra measure, she had also tipped over. Since getting in seemed impossible the medical staff had decided to wait until Elizabeth got hungry. Unfortunately for them Elizabeth had gone days without food with Cuvier and in her state of emotional distress sustenance was the last thing on her mind.

Currently Elizabeth was curled up the corner of the room farthest from the door. The bleeding above her eye had stopped but there were several new bite marks on her arms. Along the top of the wall the clocked ticked very slowly. Elizabeth had tried to take it stop the annoying sound by throwing things at it but in her rage she missed every time. Now with every tick the clock re-enforced her confused mental state.

There was a rustling by the window. Elizabeth looked up to see Batman entering the room.

"Elizabeth." He said in his usual gravel-like voice.

"What do you want?" She growled.

"You've barricaded yourself in, destroyed hospital property, and hurt yourself."

Elizabeth looked down at her arms. She actually hadn't realized she had bitten herself; it had become a reflex during her time with Cuvier. "So I have." Elizabeth's voice was blank now. Her emotions were swinging from one to another: angry, sad, numb…

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked softly.

"What?"

Elizabeth's hands clenched. "Why didn't you tell me!?" She screamed standing up and hitting the wall shattering the plaster. "Why didn't you tell me she was dead!? You lied to me! She's dead! She's dead! And it's all my fault…" Tears began running down her face as she slid back down the wall to curl up again in a ball. "It's all my fault."

"I thought it was best not to tell you."

Elizabeth's anger flared up again. "Best? Best!? Best if she doesn't know her best friend is dead? Best if she has false hope that her best friend is alive!?"

"Nygma agreed with me."

"And he's had so much time to tell me since we were separated!" Elizabeth hit the wall.

Batman was silent. He simply stood there and let Elizabeth hit the wall over and over again. Elizabeth's knuckles were starting to bleed by the time she stopped.

"Just get it over with," she said with a sigh.

"What?"

"Just arrest me! Get Gordon down here to properly arrest me! I'm sick of waiting around for them to press charges. Grand theft, murder, property damage, and whatever else you want to stick me with just do it! Do it so I can go to Arkham or Blackgate and get on with my life! So I get out of this limbo where I don't know who is dead and who is alive!" Yet again Batman was silent. He was watching her. Then he moved, with an impressive feat of strength he pulled the hospital bed back on to its feet and calmly rolled it away from the door. Moving the rest of the medical equipment aside he paused with his hand on the door handle.

"Don't blame yourself, Elizabeth." Batman opened the door and a medical team rushed in to subdue her.

* * *

_Alyssa climbed the stairs to Elizabeth's apartment. She had just arrived in Gotham. Elizabeth was in trouble and Alyssa needed to find her, to help her. It had already been ten hours since Elizabeth had left that message on her phone. Elizabeth may not have said it in her message but she needed help. She needed Alyssa, someone who could comfort her and talk some sense in to her. What did she even mean when she said she had forgotten herself? It was all the Riddler's fault, Alyssa knew it. It had to be his fault somehow he had sunk his claws into Elizabeth and twisted her._

_Finally Alyssa reached Elizabeth's new apartment. Alyssa knew Elizabeth wouldn't be here but perhaps there was a clue to where she currently was. Taking the spare key Elizabeth had sent her out Alyssa opened the door. The inside of the room smelt musty. On the counter dirty dishes sat out with a few flies crawling over the bits of rotting food. How long had it been since Elizabeth had been here?_

_Closing the door behind her Alyssa headed towards Elizabeth's bedroom. She knew Elizabeth and that she would never leave any important information out in the living room for anyone to find. She stopped though when her eye was caught by the answering machine. Perhaps there was a clue on there. Alyssa played back the messages._

_"Elizabeth, this is Dr. Grout. I'm calling because you missed your therapy session today. I hope everything is alright. I won't report you this time if you call back to reschedule. Remember these are court assigned, if you miss one again I'll have to tell the police that you're violating the verdict agreement. Please call me back to reschedule you're a good girl Elizabeth I don't want anything to happen to you."_

_Alyssa stopped the messages. There were several more but she'd listen to them later. She didn't think she could take more than one at a time. What had Elizabeth been doing to miss her court assigned therapy? Alyssa opened the door to Elizabeth's bedroom and breathed in sharply at the sight of the mess. She assumed that Elizabeth had left in a hurry but it looked like the room had been tossed. By the bedside table Alyssa spotted Elizabeth's journal. Elizabeth never went anywhere without her journal. Alyssa picked it up and flipped to the most recent pages and sighed when she saw that they were from before Elizabeth had been interned in Arkham._

_She set the book down on the bedside table and looked around the room. Alyssa froze when she heard the front door open._

* * *

Mr. Peterson sat next to Elizabeth once again. He was looking down on her disappointed yet at the same time pleased. After Elizabeth's outburst last night it would be a lot easier to make an insanity plea, if that's what she wanted at least. He was disappointed though because now he would have to deal with more charges. Grand theft, multiple homicides, disturbing the public peace, destruction of property, adding and abetting, and those were just the ones he could think of there's no telling what else the GCPD would charge her with.

"Are you going to say something or what?" Elizabeth finally said after a minute of Mr. Peterson sitting in the room.

"Yes, sorry. How are you feeling today?"

"Well after my outburst last night emotionally I'm feeling considerably better. Other than the fact that I now have confining straps across my chest to hold me down, I am doing as well as to be expected."

"I would loosen them for you but Gordon will be here soon."

"They're okay, just like being hugged by a boa constrictor." Elizabeth laughed but it was hollow and had a touch of pain in it.

"Before the cops arrive I want to ask you something."

"Alright."

"Do you want to file an insanity plea?"

Elizabeth sighed. "I—I don't know, I mean I'm not insane, at least I don't think I am; but I don't want to put in Blackgate."

"Mr. Nygma isn't insane either. You'll have an easier time getting into Arkham than him."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not…that letter from Edward yesterday, you can read it to me now."

"Alright." Peterson took heavily folded piece of paper out of his pocket and cleared his throat to read.

_'Elizabeth, _

_There is much I want to say but that can all wait until I see you again, I will count the days until we meet again. I know you hate it when I am cheesy so I will leave that for later as well. Peterson here is my personal lawyer and is one of the sleaziest people I have ever met which makes him the best lawyer there is. He will insure you have everything you need until the court date. I would suggest that you take an insanity plea once again, it may be hard to believe but Blackgate is a worse place than Arkham especially for women. No matter what happens though, I will see you soon._

_Edward'_

Peterson finished reading and tucked the paper back into his pocket.

"I'm rather disappointed that he didn't leave a riddle." Elizabeth said.

"Actually that was written in Morse code, I translated it for you."

"Thanks but next time I can do it myself."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Is Blackgate really that bad?" Elizabeth asked suddenly.

"Yes. I have several smaller clients there right now all of them begging me to get them transferred."

"I see. Then I want to go to Arkham, let's try an insanity plea."

"Excellent, Mr. Nygma will be very pleased."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Elizabeth called out.

Commissioner Gordon entered followed by two uniformed officers.

"Good Afternoon, Miss Howard, I'm Commissioner Gordon. This is Officer Blake and Officer Xue. How are you today?"

"Well my legs are starting to cramp up but I'm fine. How are you Commissioner?"

"Good, good, thank you. I uh…I want to apologize for Bullock's behavior yesterday and for mine, I had no right to tell them not to inform you of your friend's death."

"That's alright, I understand. You didn't want to put too much stress on me, thank you for the consideration."

"Thank you for understanding…" Gordon reached behind him and took a pair of handcuffs off his belt. "I'm sorry I have to do this Miss Howard but…"

"Its fine Commissioner, I won't resist." Gordon nodded and motioned for the two other officers to unstrap Elizabeth from the bed. As they did so Elizabeth could smell the nervousness in their sweat. When they finished doing the straps Elizabeth sat up slowly stretching her muscles she slid her legs over the edge of the bed a stood up with a final stretch. Then she put her arms down and turned around putting her hands behind her back. Gordon moved around the bed and gently took her wrists sliding the cuffs around them.

"Elizabeth Howard you are under arrest for multiple murders, grand theft, destruction of property, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and for participating in an illegal pit fight. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do or say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

"Yes."

"Understanding each of these rights do you now wish to speak to the police without a lawyer being present?"

"My lawyer is present but no." Gordon's eyes slid over to Peterson sitting in his chair watching proceedings carefully for any slip up.

"Alright let's go then."

* * *

**So as amazing as it sounds I have run out of the stuff to read, at least on Fanfiction. I usually use other people fanfics as inspiration for my own to get me ready to write after a long day at work but lately I've been subsiding on updates and those aren't coming fast enough. So does anyone have any good Scarecrow or Riddler fanfics they'd like to recommend? (I'll make a list and put them up for others in the next chapter) Doesn't have to be romance btw though preferably something where it's complete or updating semi-regularly.**

For you guys I would recommend: 'Mors Et Timor' by Minion and Megamind (Scarecrow), 'Predators of the Night' by ATLAsnaps-fan (Scarecrow), 'Museum Studies' by scribblescribblescribble (Scarecrow and Riddler), 'Care for a Riddle' by Shadowed-Shikyo (Riddler), and 'Costume Shop' by Nightowl445 (Riddler)


	3. The Blame Game

**Hey! I'm posting this few days early because I hate having it sit on my computer until the update day on the 31st so think of this as a Labor Day Weekend gift to you all before most schools start on the 2nd.**

* * *

Elizabeth was in a cage again. No, she shouldn't think like that. This wasn't a cage it was just a cell. A jail cell. After Gordon had arrested her they had brought her to the police station for processing and then threw her in one of the cells there. She hadn't heard a single word about where she would be going whether to Arkham or somewhere else. Stuck in limbo again. At least she wasn't restrained this time.

Next door to her was the detox cell and even though it was only 4pm there was already two men in there. One was snoring heavily and the other was singing.

"Show me the way to go home. I'm tired and I want to go to bed. I had a little drink 'bout an hour ago and it went straight to me head."

"My head." Elizabeth called out.

"Shut up bitch I knows what I'm singin'."

"Went straight to _my_ head. Shit I forget the rest…Oh Danny boy…" Elizabeth groaned and laid down on the small bed they had in the cell. She was going to get lice from this pillow she was sure of it. Better than fleas.

As she lay there Elizabeth could feel darker thoughts starting to form.

_'My fault'_

No. She couldn't go down this road again.

_'Dead'_

Elizabeth covered her eyes. She couldn't do this.

_'It should be me'_

No! She hadn't had these thoughts in ages. Ever since the accident she hadn't had these types of thoughts. Even when she'd learned she could no longer have children she hadn't allowed herself to have these thoughts.

_'The bed sheets could be used to…'_

"No!" Elizabeth roared sitting and slamming her fist against the wall.

"Is everything alright Miss Elizabeth?" Elizabeth looked over to see Montoya standing outside the cell.

"Yes, I was just thinking about well…you know."

"I can't possibly understand what you're going through but I want to apologize again for Bullock. I should have kept a better leash on what he said."

"A better leash? Huh, how can you fit a collar around that fat neck?" Elizabeth grinned and Montoya gave a soft snort of laughter. "Thank you Montoya but could you tell Bullock thank you for me? I'm glad I found out sooner rather than later besides I think it would piss him off to hear some appreciation from a "freak"."

"I will. I might even record the reaction if you don't mind. It'd probably go viral."

Elizabeth chuckled. "Please, do…did you just come to check on me or is there something you need Detective?"

"I'm here to take you to interrogation; if you could put your hands through the slot, please." Elizabeth stood and stuck her hands out so that Montoya could cuff them. "Your lawyer is waiting for you." She said opening the cell door and taking Elizabeth by the arm. Montoya placed the other reflexively on the back of Elizabeth's neck causing her to wince in pain. The hand was quickly removed.

"Sorry."

"That's okay, doesn't hurt too much anymore." Montoya placed her hand on Elizabeth's back instead. Silently they walked out of the holding area and down the bleak hallway. On the other side of some of the doors Elizabeth could hear officers and detectives working. Some were talking on the phone and others typing up reports. Behind one door she could hear someone hurriedly taking down notes while on the phone muttering something about another Scarecrow victim.

"Detective, what day is it?"

"October 24th. Why?"

"Just wondering, I lost track of the days while I was in the hospital." They passed went through another door and down another hallway. Finally they reached the interrogation room which was surprisingly far away from the holding cells. Convenience would say that they should be right next to each other. Montoya sat Elizabeth down next to her lawyer but didn't undo her cuffs. Underneath the table Elizabeth could hear the soft whine of one of Batman's bugs.

"You have five minutes with your lawyer before we start." Montoya left and locked the door.

"Good evening Elizabeth," Peterson said.

"Evening Mr. Peterson." Elizabeth crossed her legs and began tapping her foot on the underside of the table as close to whining as she could get.

Peterson looked at her, eyebrows raised. "What are you doing?"

"Sending a message." Elizabeth said in time to her beats.

"Alright…? So we've already agreed that you're going to plead insanity but is there anything I should know?"

"Yes, I have information on the location and plans of Jonathan Crane for an attack he's going to make on Halloween. Also I'm totally guilty of all those charges."

"You know what Scare—Crane is going to do?"

"For the most part, he left his notes lying around one day. Oh! Yeah, should tell you this. I built new dispersal devices for Jonathan; pretty sure that's a crime."

"Haha," Peterson said nervously, "perhaps you should be a little quieter about that. You never know who is listening." He mouthed 'Batman' and Elizabeth smirked.

"Well he's trying to." She gave a particularly loud bang against the table and Peterson glanced down before a look of realization dawned on his face.

"I see...I'll make a note of that. So what do you want to do with your information?"

"Well I'm not sure how the system works entirely but seeing how the date is drawing near and a lot of people will be hurt I'm thinking it could be used in some sort of bargain or plea deal."

"Alright I'll see what I can do." Once again they had excellent timing for at that moment there was a warning knock on the door and Gordon stepped in with Montoya and a uniformed officer behind him. Elizabeth immediately stopped tapping on the table.

"Good evening Miss Howard."

"Evening Commissioner, and since we're going to be talking awhile please call me Elizabeth or Wolf either one will do."

"Wolf?" Gordon said sitting down and placing the large file in front of him on the table.

"Yeah, I thought Wolf-woman stupid and Wolf-girl would be too demeaning, but just Wolf that's purely animalistic." Elizabeth smiled toothily her head tilted down slightly for a more menacing appearance.

"Cut the act Elizabeth." He said coolly flipping open the file and began throwing pictures in front of her. "Five men, two with broken necks, two with blunt force trauma to the head, and the other disemboweled. All found in an abandoned apartment complex not far from the Gotham University Campus. No evidence was found to identify their killer except a single dark grey hair and a few finger prints on a gun used to shoot two of the victims. Yet there was no follicle on the hair for DNA and the finger prints were too smudged to make a match. No reason to think it's you right? Except word around the underground is that Cain Cuvier was hiding there the man you wanted to find."

Elizabeth's mouth went dry. She didn't think she liked this part.

"A week later, six men, all shot. Five of them were low level members of the Maroni mob, the mob Cain Cuvier worked for; one was an undercover cop. Whoever killed him interrupted a very important police investigation and left two kids fatherless. Whoever killed him might have left a pool of blood at the scene and guess whose blood it was. It was yours Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's nostrils flared. One of them had been an undercover. Fuck. She said she wouldn't kill any innocent people; it was the one line she thought she hadn't crossed. He was an undercover though he knew the risks and there was no way for her to know beforehand. Besides he was helping to bring in a shipment of illegal arms he wasn't really that innocent.

"Then about a week after that. Three men, one with his neck snapped, one had his face chewed off and bled to death, and the last one's head was so beat up that his brains fell out. Your DNA was found all over the scene. We're still going through Cuvier's warehouse but we've already found four more bodies, parts of bodies, with your DNA in their wounds."

Elizabeth legs tensed but she tried to keep her upper body as calm as possible. Four other people she had killed that she hadn't known about.

"That's 18 people 19 with Cuvier not to mention your stunt with the Riddler at the Vreeland party and all those relatively little things like the assaults, we have enough to put you away for several life sentences. So what I want to know if you are going to do this the hard way or," Gordon set a legal pad and pen in front of her, "the easy way."

Elizabeth eyed the pad and then looked at Gordon. She glanced at her lawyer then picked up the paper and pen. After a minute she handed the pad back to Gordon who smiled in relief and looked down at it.

"What the hell is this?" He said turning the notepad around and unnecessarily showing it to her.

"I thought it was obvious. That's Arkham Asylum. See I even put the name on the sign."

"So this is your answer, you want to plead insanity?"

Peterson touched Elizabeth's arm to stop her from speaking. "I believe that would be best for my client with the trauma she had gone through recently and previously. She needs mental care."

Gordon sighed. "Alright I'll contact a psychologist until they come out to evaluate you you'll have to stay here in the precinct."

"Okie-dokie artichoky." Elizabeth said with a ridiculous smile. Gordon stood shaking his head tiredly. They were always insane in this city.

* * *

_Alyssa stood frozen as she heard the front door open and shut._

_ "We know you're in here." A deep male voice said. Alyssa clenched her fists defensively ready to strike at any moment._

_ "Why are you here?" Another male voice said. She could hear them approaching the bedroom door. Her muscles were tense but she quickly hid the journal under mattress Elizabeth wouldn't want it found. The door opened and the two men stepped in. Alyssa immediately dropped her fists, they were the police. _

_ "GCPD, now what are you doing in this apartment?"_

_ "I have a key, I'm not trespassing." She said holding up the key in her hand._

_ "Doesn't matter this is a crime scene."_

_ Alyssa raised her eyebrows, something wasn't right about this. "There wasn't any tape on the door, how am I supposed to know?" The two police officers looked at each other. Something still wasn't right._

_ "What is your relation to Miss Howard?" One of them finally asked._

_ "I'm her best friend; I heard the news and thought I could help her." They looked at each other again and smiled. Something definitely wasn't right._

_ "That's very kind of you but we're going to have to ask you to come down to the precinct for a few questions." Alyssa couldn't see a way out of it. They were completely blocking the door and if they really were police officers she didn't want to fight them._

_ "Alright but I have to be at work in a few hours." Hopefully giving them the idea that she would be missed would deter them if they weren't police._

_ "Don't worry you'll be in and out in no time."_

_ "Yeah, come on." The smaller of the two cops approached her and used his arm to shepherd her out of the bedroom. _

_ "My purse," Alyssa said looking around for the purse she had placed on the table._

_ "Don't worry, I got it Miss…" the other officer said looking at the ID in her wallet, "McKenna."_

_ "Please don't go through my purse." Alyssa said holding her hand out for the bag._

_ "I'll hold on to it."_

_ "No, give me my purse." The officer who was standing next her touched her shoulder causing her to jerk away from him. "Don't touch me."_

_ "Give her back her purse Ken," he said, "we need to get going."_

_ "Okay Jon," Ken said tossing Alyssa her purse. "Let's go then." The three walked out of the apartment and down the stairs. While they walked Alyssa discreetly reached inside her purse and wrapped her hand around the pepper spray she kept inside._

_ "The car's just around the corner," Jon said. They rounded the corner but there was no squad car only a big black van. Alyssa pulled the pepper spray from her purse and swung around ready to fire it into their eyes; they, however, were faster at pulling out their guns. The can in her hands clattered to ground. Ken approached her and pressed his gun to her stomach._

_ "Get in." Alyssa swallowed thickly and got in to the van._

* * *

The bats that resided in the cave were coming back to roost for the day including the human shaped bat that lived there. A screech from the tires of the Batmobile made the native bats rustle their wings in annoyance. Batman leapt from his car and was greeted by the smell of the breakfast Alfred had set out for him. Taking off his cape and cowl he sat down in his computer chair and gratefully began eating the plump sausages. As he ate he pulled up the audio of the GCPD interrogation room. He knew Elizabeth had her initial interrogation yesterday evening but he had been too busy going through clues to Scarecrow's whereabouts that he hadn't had time to listen to it live. It was essential that he find Scarecrow before Halloween when he was certain to make a move but Elizabeth also need his attention. She may be in police custody but there was no telling how she was going to react to the stress. With what she had gone through with Cuvier Elizabeth was currently very unstable.

On the tape he heard the door to the interrogation room open and Elizabeth and her lawyer, the scum Richard Peterson, walk in. They sat down and Montoya told them the time limit. There was a pause then a loud bang nearly made Batman drop his plate. He thought one of them might have accidently hit the table but as the banging continued he realized that wasn't the case. Someone was doing this on purpose and since Peterson had never exhibited this behavior before it must have been Elizabeth. He could catch a word every so often but most of what they were saying was unintelligible. Batman fast-forwarded through the rest of the banging, he would try to separate the bangs from the other audio later, and listened to the rest of the interrogation.

When he reached the end Batman leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. Of course, she wanted to go to Arkham. The Riddler was there. The Riddler was there and she claimed to love him. Maybe it was true and she did but the Riddler would toss her away the second she became a liability.

_'Not true.'_ He reminded himself. Nygma could have left her with Cuvier to rot but he didn't, he tried looking for her for two months before swallowing his pride and coming to him for help. Maybe they really did love each other, stranger things had happened in Gotham, that's why he gave Elizabeth Nygma's coat wasn't it? On the off chance that it would help her keep calm because of her emotional attachment. Batman still believed though that Elizabeth could be saved. Life had backed her into a corner and as she had said four months ago on that rooftop "animals are more dangerous when backed into a corner." If she was kept away from Nygma she might have a chance to reform.

_'Not true.'_ He once again reminded himself. He had given her a chance to get out once before and she had taken his offer and beat him over the head with it; well, technically it had been a pipe she'd hit him with. Presumably she had gone into hiding with Nygma after that. She had run into his arms like Harley Quinn with the Joker. For all her talk of only wanting revenge she had even gone on a heist with him. They had stood there arm in arm, thick as the thieves they were.

Batman slammed his fist on the computer console. He could have saved her from this path. He should have saved her. Many people blamed him for creating the Rogues but he had nothing to do with their origins except for hers. It was his fault. Nearly five years ago he could have prevented all of this mess. If he had just gotten Elizabeth out of the building before he went back to take care of the other thugs then she wouldn't have been bitten and she wouldn't have been doused in that chemical. He had acted like greenhorn that night and had since vowed to, whenever possible, get the hostages away from any scene before attending to the thugs.

"Master Wayne." Alfred's voice said from behind him.

"Alfred." Batman said regaining his composure.

"Might I inquire as to what the computer has done to offend you so much?"

"It's not the computer, Alfred, its Elizabeth."

"Ah yes, Miss Howard, how is she doing these days?"

"Pleading insanity and by the looks of it she will win too."

"Oh dear, I hope she gets the help see needs but with the state that Arkham is in I fear she might not."

"Exactly, I can't let her go to Arkham she would only loose whatever sanity she has left if she is exposed to the Rogues again."

* * *

It was around mid-afternoon when Montoya had fetched her from the holding cell and brought Elizabeth to a small private room. The room was similar to the interrogation room but without the one-way glass along one side, with slightly more comfortable chairs, and no electronic whine from a Bat-bug. Montoya chained her to a ring along the far side of the table and informed her that a psychologist would be in soon to talk to her. So now Elizabeth was sitting in her chair head hanging trying to remember all of the tips Peterson had given her on making an insanity plea.

The door to the room creaked open causing Elizabeth to look up. "Good afternoon, Miss Howard."

Elizabeth stared at the woman in front of her. She looked like she had just graduated college. This was the person they sent to evaluate her? Elizabeth was rather offended.

"I said good afternoon, Miss Howard."

Elizabeth's upper lip twitched. "Didn't they tell you not to call me that?"

"Yes, they did but I do not believe in a criminal dictating what they are called."

"And I believe starting off hostilely towards a volatile person does not end well for you. So please call me Elizabeth and save yourself the trouble."

"So you recognize that you volatile." The psychologist said writing something on her clipboard. "When did this begin?"

"What?"

The psychology sighed and rolled her eyes. "When did you recall beginning to feel volatile?"

Elizabeth grit her teeth, she really did not like this woman. "I believe it began after I was injured during the pit fight and I twisted the guy's arm until the bone was poking out of the skin. I'm not quite sure I wasn't keeping catalog of my emotions, sorry."

"To the best of your abilities recall the emotions you felt during each of your crimes."

"The guys in the apartment: fear. The guys at the dock: resignation and disgust. The Vreeland ball: excitement, anger, and nervousness. The alley guys: pain and fear. Cuvier: the most tumultuous ecstasy and relief."

"What about the murders you committed while with Mr. Cuvier?"

"I can't remember those probably fear, pain, and anger though."

"Why can't you remember?"

"Don't know. Could be that I have repressed the memories to save myself mental anguish or more likely, I was almost always in one of those psychotic break things that happened at Wayne Industries. Those mess with my memory quite a bit."

"You have had these so called "psychotic breaks" more than when you with Cuvier and the two before your first trial?"

"Oh yes, multiple times."

"When?"

"Let's see the pit fight, with the guys in the apartment, when I fought Batman, the guys in the alley, and…oh almost when Two-face pressed a gun to my head. That's it I think."

"So were in control of yourself when you killed those men on the docks and during the Vreeland ball?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel guilt over what you willingly did?"

"Only the slightest twinge at the death of the undercover officer."

"Why him?"

"He was innocent for the most part."

"The people at the Vreeland ball were innocent."

"I didn't kill anyone there now did I? I have nothing to be guilty about. Veronica tormented me when we were children and she only invited me to torment me some more. Her and those other repulsive socialites deserved to be robbed if not for finding humor in the humiliation of others than for the crimes their companies have undoubtedly committed."

"Do you feel any guilt at all for any of your crimes?"

"Why? Should I?"

"Do you feel any guilt for anything you've done?"

"Yes." Elizabeth stared at her and she stared back and judging by her expression the psychologist was surprised.

"For what then? You've ripped the intestines out of people and say you don't feel guilt. What makes you feel that way?"

"…It's my fault that she's dead."

"Why?"

"Why? Why!?" The blood began to rush in Elizabeth's ears. What was with this woman!? "It's my fault she's dead because it's my fault she was captured by Cuvier! If I hadn't called her she wouldn't have come to Gotham! And then she wouldn't be dead!"

"Miss Howard, calm down."

"Don't call me that!" Elizabeth shrieked. "Don't call me that you little—"

The door burst open and Montoya and a uniformed officer stormed in their guns raised.

"Miss Elizabeth I need to you to calm down." Montoya said as the psychologist was hauled out of the room by the officer. Elizabeth unfurled her hands which had unconsciously curled into fists and raised them as high as she could to show she meant no harm.

"I'm good, I'm good, Montoya." Montoya holstered her gun and unchained Elizabeth from the table. "What we don't get to finish?" Elizabeth asked as she was led out of the room.

As Montoya led her down the hallway Elizabeth spotted the psychologist breathing heavily in front of them leaning against the wall. "I told you not to call me that," Elizabeth said as they passed.

"You're insane," the psychologist huffed. Elizabeth stopped to listen. "You're an insane, crazy, bitch."

"Is that your official diagnosis?"

"Yes, you're going to Arkham and you will never be released." Montoya pushed Elizabeth forward not seeing her smirk. Those tips did help.

* * *

**You guys suck. Okay not really, no one had recommendations for me so I just raided people's favorite's lists and did a very thorough search in all Batman categories. So here are some more recommendations for you guys. Some of them haven't updated in a few months so everyone who reads those ones leave a review to boot the author back into action. Also as a note I am disappointed in how few Riddler fanfics there are...**

**Scarecrow: 'Meds' by Auf Jaden Fall, 'The Crooked Kind' by , 'So Cold' by Iraoftheseven, 'Obsession with Fear' by Darkchaosrising, 'Under Qualified' by JoyceClynn, 'Birds of a Feather' by KlarolineBunny32, and 'Innominata' by Liluri **

**Riddler: 'When I met the Riddler' by Eymris Grayson, 'Imaginative Inquiries' by jgal747, 'Domino' byAskTheDash, 'Gears on the Brain' by , and 'Hey, Diddle, Diddle' by Lizzybug2000**

** Well I hope you enjoy and might I suggest starting off with the last two of Ridder's they just started posting so they need the encouragement!**


	4. Welcome

**Hello there duckies! Here's another chapter!**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here Peterson?" Jim Gordon asked as the lawyer stepped into his office his slicked back hair just as greasy as usual.

"I'm here to talk about my client of course I wouldn't seek out your company for any other reason." The lawyer replied sitting down in the chair across from Gordon's desk.

"Miss Howard or Nygma?"

"Miss Howard, she claims to have knowledge of an attack Scarecrow will be making this Halloween." He said this as though he was bored and propped his feet up on the edge of the desk.

"Does she now?" Gordon said skeptically, "And what did she say she wanted in exchange for this information?"

"She didn't I, however, have an idea of what would be best for her."

"And since when do you care about what is best for your clients except for Nygma?"

"Since he gave me a nice fat bonus to make sure Miss Howard was taken care of."

"What precisely do you want for her then?"

"Case number 38622b, are you familiar with it?"

"Yes, we just closed it due to the evidence in Cuvier's laboratory."

"I know and don't think it would be very wise if Miss Howard ever found out what is in that case file. It would be very detrimental to her mental health don't you agree?"

"You can't ask me not to charge her—"

Peterson held up a hand stopping Gordon. "I'm not asking that, I am asking that no one—Bullock, you, Montoya, her doctor—no one tells her about who is in that case file. During trial we can just gloss over it."

Gordon stared hard at Peterson. "Very well, agreed."

"Excellent, you draw up the deal and I'll have Miss Howard sign it post-haste."

A few short hours later and Elizabeth and Peterson were once again in interrogation.

"Your lawyer tells me you have information you wish to share about Mr. Crane." Gordon said setting down the contract he had drawn up for Peterson to review.

"Yes, _Doctor_ Crane is so used to being alone he has the tendency to leave his notes out in the open."

"Peterson?"

"The contract is good, Elizabeth if you could sign." Peterson removed a pen from his pocket and gave both the contract and the pen to Elizabeth.

"And you made sure it's a good deal, if Jonathan ever finds out about this he's going to gas me for sure, I want to make sure it's worth it."

"Do not worry, I negotiated the terms myself, no need to read it over." Elizabeth nodded trusting her lawyer and signed then gave the paper back to Gordon.

"Alrighty, Jonathan will be planting at least 20 gas bombs around the city that are triggered remotely. Three will be at Gotham General, two here, and the rest at various points along the underground so it is distributed throughout the city through the ventilation shafts. These bombs will go off sometime around the evening rush hour. The frequencies of the devices are 18.6MHz for most with a few at 40.1MHz."

"And do you know where Crane will be?"

"No, I did hear him talking about collecting his Mistress of Fear don't know who that could be. However, he has to be within 30 feet of the 40.1MHz devices for them to go off so I'd start there."

"Do you know where Crane is now?"

"Nope, he changes hideouts at least once a month I've been away too long to know."

"Very well, is that all the information you have on Crane?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment. "Unless you wish to know that Crane smells like pumpkin pie, yes."

"Thank you for your co-operation Elizabeth, we appreciate the information. And on a different note, you will be taken to court tomorrow morning for your hearing."

* * *

_Alyssa's head throbbed. Where the hell was she?_

_ "Oh good you're awake." Alyssa looked up to the source of the voice. A man in a bloody lab coat with unwashed hair and severely unkempt stubble was standing over her._

_ "What…? Who…?" Her head hurt so much she could hardly think._

_ "You are Alyssa McKenna correct? Best friend of Elizabeth Howard?"_

_ "Yes…why?"_

_ "Excellent, let me introduce myself, I am Cain Cuvier. I don't know if she told you about me or not but I am Miss Howard's creator so to speak. Unfortunately my beloved experiment won't come home that's why I instructed my men to take someone who was close to her." He pressed something in his hand and the message Elizabeth left on her phone began to play. "You came running to her rescue and you better hope she is just as loyal and comes running to yours."_

_ "What do you want with her?" Alyssa growled the pain in her head subsiding enough for her to form a coherent sentence._

_ "What I want? What I want is her. I want to finish my experiments. I want to re-create those powers in others with my serum and I need her to do that. Then when I've discovered how my serum worked on her I'm want to test how far I can push her body; test the limits of her abilities. Then I'm going to tame her to be my own personal attack dog by whatever means necessary."_

_ "You bastard, I'll rip out your intestines and choke you with them before I let you do that to her." Cuvier laughed and disappeared into the darkness._

* * *

The courtroom was hot and sweaty due to the mass of reporters inside and the damaged air conditioning. So far the hearing had lasted half an hour, with all of her charges formally laid out and the psychologist that had visited her yesterday giving her "expert" opinion. Now Elizabeth was waiting for the judge to pass his ruling and she'd be on her way to Arkham.

"Taking the evidence presented under consideration it is the opinion of this court that Elizabeth Jane Howard is criminally insane. Therefore, she is will be sentenced to Williams Medical Center for treatment until such time that she is no longer mentally unfit to stand trial whereupon she will persecuted to the fullest extent of the law." The gavel rang out across the courthouse but Elizabeth couldn't hear it. Her mouth was half open and her eyes wide. What? What the hell? She was supposed to be going to Arkham. What was this Williams Medical Center shit? She'd never even heard of Williams Medical Center.

"What the hell Peterson, I thought I was going to Arkham. I want to go to Arkham."

"I thought so too, Williams is where they send non-violent patients or those unlikely to be violent again."

"Well fix it." Elizabeth hissed under her breath as two policemen approached her.

"I can't, what's done is done, usually people petition to be moved _into_ Williams."

"This way Ma'am," one of the police officers said cuffing Elizabeth. "You'll have time to talk with your lawyer later." Elizabeth gave disgruntled growl as the two officers pulled her away from Peterson.

"I'll think of something," Peterson called after her. Elizabeth rolled her eyes something was telling her she'd have to work out this problem herself. The Press was true to their name and pressed forward as Elizabeth was pushed forward through the court doors.

"Miss Howard, Miss Howard, why did you confess guilt this time?"

"Miss Howard, Miss Howard, is it true that you have a relationship to the Riddler?"

"Miss Howard, Miss Howard, what happened to not hurting anyone else?"

"Miss Howard, Miss Howard, how do you feel about…"

"What do you think about…"

"Is it true that…"

"Miss Howard, Miss Howard, Miss Howard."

"Don't call me that!" Elizabeth roared. "Do not call me that, you insignificant fucks!" She lunged at the nearest reporters but the officers kept a firm grip on her arms and kept pushing her forward. It wasn't until she was in the police car that Elizabeth stopped yelling insults at the reporters. A small smirk crossed her lips. While the outburst had been real the anger had subsided very quickly, Elizabeth had kept on insulting and threatening the reporters however. It was like an act—no—self hyperbole. She knew this was what Edward, Jonathan, and some of the other Rogues did. The media and doctors believed that Edward constantly spoke in riddles and never gave a straight answer. Obviously this wasn't true. Those were Edward's performances when he was the Riddler. Yes, he loved riddles and puzzles almost unhealthily so but to say that was all he did was making him one-dimensional.

Rage and bloodlust seemed to be becoming her performances as Wolf. Not to mention an exaggerated statement of lack of guilt. It was true she felt no guilt about those she had killed in her psychotic breaks, maybe it was because she couldn't remember just like when she had killed at Wayne Industries. The men on the docks were a different story though. She had attacked them first; they had done no harm to her—

"Here we are." The police officer's voice interrupted Elizabeth's thoughts. Here already? She glanced out the window and saw a square brick building. All of the windows had bars but she could see that they did open partially. Looking up and down the street Elizabeth realized that they were on the outskirts of the city nearing the suburbs. They really did get here fast, either that, or she had been more wrapped up in her thoughts than she realized.

An old nurse in a pure white uniform and a clichéd white hat was coming out the front door followed by two very large orderlies.

"Hello," the nurse said with false cheeriness as the police opened the car door and dragged Elizabeth from her seat. Elizabeth looked over the white clad woman and immediately decided she didn't like her. Maybe it was the forced smile or her claw like hands but it was probably the scent of anti-sceptics and white board markers that rolled off her. The smell just put Elizabeth off.

"So you're our newest patient? Worry not we're nothing like that nasty old Arkham; we use the finest medication and therapy techniques to help our patients here. If you bring her this way, officers. We believe that placing a patient in a perfectly controlled environment is best…" The nurse talked about some of the benefits of the facility while she walked ahead.

"Could you knock me out and spare me her yammering?" Elizabeth asked one of the officers. "I'll pretend to try and escape so you can make it realistic."

"Quiet," the officer said squeezing the arm he was holding. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and refocused on what the woman was saying as they passed through the doors.

"…held in the station we'll need to clean you up first. Officers if you could hand her off to the orderlies here and you can sign the transfer forms." The Officers un-cuffed Elizabeth and being so close to the door she had the briefest inkling to run. The moment was over though when the orderlies grabbed her arms pulling her off through a side door. The room was stark white with the exception of some smiley-faced posters on the walls telling people to "be happy" and "don't worry". A rather condescending message for a mental health clinic. Elizabeth knew all too well that people can't will their mental state away. She had learned that the hard way when she tried to force herself not to be so sad and angry before telling her mother about how she thought there was something wrong with her. Of course, despite her previous knowledge that's exactly what she was attempting to do when she reprimanded herself for her guilt and depression over Alyssa's death.

Two nurses approached her pulling her out of her thoughts. That was happening a lot today.

"Good day, you're Elizabeth Howard right? Tell me do you have any allergies to medication that you are aware of?"

"Amoxicillin and Iodine."

"Thank you, and do you have any other physical medical needs that we should be aware of?"

"Besides my current injuries?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Excellent, now if you could please read this statement aloud for me." The nurse held a paper out for her to see.

"I understand that I, as an inpatient of the Williams Medical Center—ow! The hell!?" The nurse not holding up the paper had stuck a needle of some sort into Elizabeth's neck.

"We're sorry, it's just a light sedative it makes the next part much easier, it's procedural for someone with your volatile background."

"I—wha—my head…" Elizabeth's head was spinning as the orderlies led her behind a curtain and left her there with the two nurses undressing her.

"This way please." One of the said after she was naked grabbing her arm. They brought her into a small tile covered room and stood her in its center. The nurses stepped a few paces back. "Close your mouth and eyes. Good. Three…two…one." A switch was flipped and a shower of cold water rushed over Elizabeth from the ceiling. No, it wasn't water it was something else something that stung her nostrils, made her skin tingle, and the wounds under her bandages burn. Some sort of disinfectant.

"Excellent, now this way." They wrapped a towel around her and pulled her off to the side bending her over a sink. The acidic smell of even more disinfectant reached her nose as they poured something on her hair and rubbed it in. A buzzing sound reached her ears and suddenly Elizabeth felt her hair being sheared away. It was over quickly and when they released her Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair. The razor had left her with only an inch of hair all around her head. There was no mirror around but even in her drugged state Elizabeth knew she had to look ridiculous.

"Well dry off," the nurses said. Slowly Elizabeth did so. She was still trying to think through the drug, she had been sedated so many times that the drugs shouldn't have much of an effect on her. Yet they still somehow did. Once Elizabeth was dry the nurses handed her a light pink shapeless blouse, a pair of white sweats, a grey sports bra, and a pair of grey granny-panties. Elizabeth changed into the clothes repulsed at the shade of pink they had chosen, she didn't like pink on the best of days but this light baby pink was making her stick her tongue out with displeasure.

"This way, Miss Howard, your doctor wants to see you before we show you to your room. He requested you personally." Too drugged to make a fuss and correct them Elizabeth still curled her upper lip at being called Miss Howard.

The orderlies took control of Elizabeth once more as she was pushed into the hallway by the two nurses. Elizabeth stumbled as they pulled her along the drugs still having an effect on her. Underneath her bandages her wounds were still burning from her chemical shower. She would need to have them changed. The orderlies came to a sudden halt causing Elizabeth to nearly crash into one of them.

"Doc," one said knocking on an office door, "we got your new patient."

"Bring her in," a muffled voice said. The door opened and Elizabeth was shoved into a seat inside. She blinked and shook her head trying to clear her mind. No. No way.

"Good day Elizabeth it's nice to see you again."

"Dr. Gullenrow?" Elizabeth didn't know if she was screwed or not. He had vouched for her sanity and here she was back in a mental institution.

"Yes. Surprised to see me? I would assume so, I was working at Arkham last time we were together and no thanks to you I am no longer there."

"What happen? Dr. Leland pin 'ya for patient abuse?" The sentence wasn't perfectly correct but as the drugs were leaving her system it was better than nothing.

"No. With the introduction of Hugo Strange at Arkham and my failure to recognize your insanity Dr. Arkham decided that I was no longer fit for my position."

"So what? 'Ya blame me for loosen 'ya job?"

"Do you think I would be that petty?"

"'Ya…" Elizabeth shook her head the drugs were nearly out of her system. "You had me beaten up in Arkham, I'd call that petty."

Dr. Gullenrow laughed and for a moment Elizabeth could see the sadistic old man that had watched while she had been pounded into the ground by those Arkham guards.

"It seems you are delusional, you fell down the stairs, remember? Perhaps the chemical restraints are still affecting your system, I did tell them to give you a double dose. Orderlies can you take Elizabeth to her room? She can go through orientation later once the drugs are out of her system. And make sure she doesn't fall down any stairs."

Elizabeth was pulled out of her chair by the shoulders and dragged from the room. As the door shut she heard Dr. Gullenrow laugh again.

* * *

For some reason Elizabeth had a roommate. The other woman was not there at the moment but judging by the amount of drawings surrounding the bed by the window there was someone actually living in this room with her. Elizabeth heard the door shut behind her and lock. At least they weren't completely stupid. As Elizabeth examined the room further she noticed that both beds had restraints attached to them. There was a small dresser in the room and Elizabeth opened the drawers. The top one was full of miscellaneous items from underwear to crayons to maxi-pads. The bottom one was empty this one must be hers then, not that she was planning on staying long enough to get much use out of it. As soon as Elizabeth had figured out a way to Arkham she would take it.

Elizabeth knew that she shouldn't want to go to Arkham. No one in their right mind would want to go to Arkham. Ha, maybe she was insane. No, she wanted to go to Arkham because it was what she knew it's better to choose the evil you know as it were. Not to mention Edward was there. She needed to talk to him, she needed to see him. When he had rescued her she had been too shell-shocked to say much to him. Elizabeth needed to see him, to thank him, to ask why it had taken him so long to find her. She needed to smell his scent from the source, to touch him, to kiss him, and to be asked a riddle that she would begrudgingly solve. She needed to be with Edward no matter what. Even if that meant breaking out.

It seemed so long ago now that she had told Batman that she was prepared to face the consequences of her actions and back then she had been. Elizabeth had been ready to go to jail or Arkham as long as she could get her hands on Cuvier but now…now she knew she couldn't live in captivity. Not with what Cuvier did to her, surely what he did to her was punishment enough? Being locked in that cage it had changed her. For now this room was fine, she knew though that before long it would become too cage-like. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

With a sigh Elizabeth looked around the room some more. The chemical restraints had worn off by now, for a double dose the drugs had worn off quickly. If they were to ever give her a single dose she would most likely be able to fight off the effects within a couple minutes. By both beds there was a night stand. Elizabeth opened the drawer on hers and pulled out the two books inside. She tossed the bible back wondering if its presence was a violation of the establishment clause or not. The other one though she opened, it was less a book and more a binder of the rules of the facility.

_'Williams Medical Center Guidebook'_

_'Welcome to the Williams Medical Center a State Hospital for—'_

The opening of the door prevented her from reading anymore.

"Come on," a new orderly said, "Doc says you should be detoxed enough by now. Time for orientation." This orderly handcuffed her with a pair of soft leather shackles that went around her wrists and ankles. They were still connected by metal chains but Elizabeth could tell this leather was soft enough for her to bite through.

"This is a state hospital right?" Elizabeth asked the orderly as she led her down the hall.

"Yes."

"Ah, did you know that this hospital is in violation of the establishment clause?"

"What does that mean?"

"The bible in my bedside table, I assume it was provided by the hospital."

"Yeah, they're in all the rooms."

"Exactly, as this is a state hospital the hospital can't promote one religion over another, meaning no bibles automatically provided in the rooms."

"Whatever."

"No, it's not "whatever". I could bring a lawsuit against this hospital if I wanted to. A lawsuit would mean loss of money and that means a lowly orderly like yourself would be at risk of losing your job."

The orderly opened a door and pushed her inside. "Sit down and don't make trouble." The door slammed behind her. Alright so that orderly wasn't one of the nice ones. Elizabeth made a note of his appearance and scent in her head. Looking around the room blank white room Elizabeth saw a chair in front of a TV.

"Way to look like a brain-washing room," she muttered to herself sitting down in the chair. As soon as she sat the TV clicked on and a video began playing. It must have been remote controlled but it was still kind of freaky. On the screen a young model pretending to play a nurse began talking.

"Hello and welcome to the Williams Medical Center. We are so glad you could join us for your court-assigned therapy. As you might have noticed upon your entry all of our Staff are friendly and they are all here to help you.'

'Here at the Williams Medical Center we believe a controlled mind comes from a controlled environment. To make this a reality we require all patients to wear a uniform. You would have been given your entry uniform during your scrub down. For females patients we require a pink blouse to be worn and for men a blue blouse and grey pants for both genders. For safety hair is to be kept short on both genders. Running is not permit…"

Elizabeth zoned out as the woman talked on and on about the rules of the facility. There was something about being punished if you didn't comply with the rules but they didn't state what the punishment was.

"…At night all patients will be strapped to the beds for their and their roommate's safety…"

"What!?" Elizabeth said in shock. No, no, no. They couldn't do that. It was bad enough in hospital for a week but every night? No, she wouldn't be able to stand that. That was it she was getting to Arkham no matter what.

"…If you attempt to escape you will be fitted with a tracking collar. If a second attempt is made you will be kept in constant chemical restraints. If a third attempt is made or if you make it more than a mile away on one of the previous attempts you will be transferred to Arkham…" Well there we go. It might take a while but if she tried to escape three times or made it far enough she could go to Arkham. That would take some planning though. Perhaps she was strong enough to rip the bars off the window and could use the bed sheets as a rope.

"…Violence is not permitted in this facility inflicting bodily harm on anyone will result in severe punishment. If this violence is against a doctor you will be transferred to Arkham immediately…" Elizabeth smiled that was a much better idea.

* * *

**So what did you think of Gotham? Another one airs tomorrow and I can't wait to see what happens! And if you haven't watched the first episode already...shame, shame on you.**

**Also I have another recommendation but I want everyone to pay attention to the summary the story is "Regrets and Riddles" by Lou. nygma (remove the space, Fanfic is being silly and thinks it's a website) and I would just like to say...See! See! Even before the premiere of Gotham someone already used the "pretty Penguin" in their story. Not a bad thing not a good thing, but this could revolutionize the way people see the Penguin in all fanfictions and if the Penguin now has sex appeal here comes a whole new realm of stories.**

**Edit: I just realized that if you haven't read my story 'The Bookworm and the Beast' my "see"-ing doesn't make any sense...sorry, I'm talking about "pretty young actor syndrome" and how Penguin is going to receive a lot more love now because of his new face.**


	5. All because of Sue

**Hey! A super special update! Wooh! Don't get too comfortable with updates like these but they will come along once in a while. This one is only because I had a very unproductive week and I want to feel like I accomplished something even if it isn't involving grad school applications.**

* * *

The Staff at the Williams' Medical Center were smarter than Elizabeth had originally thought. Perhaps it had been the condescending posters that had given her the impression of stupidity or the scrub down she had received, or maybe how they hadn't changed her damp bandages for several hours after her scrub down, or possibly the fact that they allowed patients to move around the halls freely, excepting the private offices. But they had shown her that they did have some forethought when they put her in a straitjacket before her first actual therapy session with Dr. Gullenrow. Elizabeth sure as hell didn't like it but it was smart of them, maybe they were watching when she smiled yesterday at the video. She should have kept her intentions hidden a bit better.

"I'm sorry about the confinement Elizabeth but the staff and I believe it is for the best."

"I was kept in a cage for two and a half months with a shock collar on for at least half of that, this jacket it nothing." Elizabeth said in a sour tone.

"Excellent, I'm glad you understand. So I think it would be best to start at the beginning. What did you do after your trial?"

"I went home, fought through a mob, ate some frosting, and cried."

"Why were you crying?"

"Why do you think? I may have just been declared innocent but I knew my life wasn't back to normal and I knew it never would be. I cried to relieve my stress."

"And the next day?"

"I went to try and find a new apartment and a job." What the hell was Dr. Gullenrow doing, this had no effect on what happened to her.

"Why didn't you contact Arkham, I offered to help you find a job before."

"As what? A janitor, a mailroom operator, some minimum wage job at Big Belly? I preferred to find my own job."

Dr. Gullenrow's lips pressed together and he scribbled something on his clipboard. "Tell me about when you first met Cuvier." Elizabeth sighed internally and retold the story.

"So after that what did you do?"

"I made dinner and went through more wanted ads in the paper."

"No, I mean what did you decide to do about Cuvier?"

"I didn't decide anything then. I waited a week to hear whether he'd been caught or not."

"And when he wasn't?"

"I went to find my own information."

"How?"

"Asking, however, that's not very effective even with the squealers."

"So what did you do?"

Elizabeth smirked just a little bit. "I couldn't do the sexual seductress thing so I started using my fists people listened then. I didn't have an information network though and I knew that beating up too many of Maroni's men would make me a target. So I decided to ask the only other person with an information network as big as Maroni's, Falcone." Apart from the Riddler as well, Elizabeth wasn't about to tell him that though. According to Edward his involvement in the information trade of Gotham was unknown to police and he wanted it to remain that way.

"And this is what led to the pit fight? Yes?"

"Yes, how did they find out about that by the way? Do you know?"

"I believe that report says a bouncer confessed in a plea deal after a rape charge, he had a list of names of people who had fought in the ring and where to find it." Elizabeth remembered the bouncer that had been there to let her in, he had been a perv it wasn't surprising he had a rape charge against him.

"Ha, damn, done in by the little guy."

"Yes, but back to you. How did you get into the fight? As far as I'm aware they only allowed top fighters."

"After proving my mettle as it were on streets, all it took was a well-placed connection and about 500 bucks of bribe money."

Dr. Gullenrow continued asking simple questions nothing too out of place. It was obvious he was building a timeline of what had happened since she left Arkham.

"Alright we're done for the day. We'll meet again tomorrow." Dr. Gullenrow said checking his watch.

"Hang on, I have question."

"Very well."

"Why do I have a roommate? Last time you said I was far too dangerous to be with another patient? And for that matter where is she? All her stuff is around the bed but she wasn't there last night."

"Your roommate is currently in solitary confinement after she kept spitting on other patients, she will return tonight. As for why you are in a double room, the only reason you were in a single room before is because transferring people down a level at Arkham is too much paper work after you had calmed down I would have moved you if the paper work didn't take five weeks to complete. Didn't I tell you this before?"

Elizabeth shrugged honestly she forgot half of what Dr. Gullenrow had told her in that first week she was in Arkham. Apart from the beating that was.

"Alright, any more questions?"

"I think I'm good."

"Excellent," Dr. Gullenrow opened the door and two orderlies came in. "If you boys could bring Elizabeth to the rec room and remove her jacket." The two men pulled Elizabeth to her feet and dragged her from the room.

Several hours and a very disgusting meal later Elizabeth was sitting on her bed going over the rule book for the facility. The door opened and an orderly came in followed by a women dressed in the same outfit Elizabeth was in. Her hair was longer than Elizabeth's, about the same length Elizabeth's hair had been before Cuvier had taken her, indicating she'd been here for a while. The woman sat down on the bed opposing Elizabeth's and the orderly un-cuffed her.

"Now, Sue. Don't go spitting on people anymore, understand?"

"Yes," the woman said with a nod. Elizabeth noticed her eyes were dull and glassed over it seemed she had chemical restraints in her system.

"Good, now Sue I know you're tired but this is your new roommate." The orderly moved aside and Elizabeth inclined her head in acknowledgement of the other woman. "Be nice to her."

The orderly moved away. "Lights out in a half hour," he told them both.

* * *

_ Alyssa didn't know how long it had been since she had been taken. Food was brought to her at irregular intervals and in the windowless basement she had no sense of time. It must have been several days though. Above her she heard the door to the basement open and she pressed herself against the rear bars of the cage. It was either food or an intimidation and more often than not those were accompanied by beatings. Two sets of footsteps echoed through the basement and the stairs creaked as the men came down into the darkness._

_ "Up." One of them grunted as he unlocked her cage door. Alyssa moved as fast as she could but she lacked energy from the deprivation of food. Two meaty hands latched on to her shoulders and pulled her forward. Alyssa swayed on her feet. It'd been so long since she stood upright. They pushed her into a walk. She was doing fine until they reached the stairs. Four times Alyssa fell while trying to climb them and each time the thugs laughed without helping her up._

_ When she reached the top of the stairs for a brief shining moment she thought she could make a run for it but the two hands clamped around her arms and the moment passed. They dragged her through the sterile lab-esque room and down a hall. Ahead of them Alyssa could hear Cuvier talking. They stopped in front of a door, waiting. Then she heard Elizabeth. _

_ No. No. Elizabeth couldn't be here, she couldn't have given herself up. Alyssa tried to pull forward, to help her friend, but was stopped by a punch to the gut and knock over the head. The door opened and she was roughly pushed through cracking her head on the concrete floor._

_ "God damn you!" She heard Elizabeth roar but the sound seemed so far away. Her head was jerked upward by her hair. Though her head was still reeling from being hit she could see Elizabeth. She was strapped to an operating table of some kind but instead of lying flat the table was titled up so she could see what was happening. Cuvier and Elizabeth were talking but she could barely understand what they were saying. Suddenly she was pulled to her feet and dragged from the room._

* * *

_'Still in a straitjacket'_ Elizabeth thought with an internal sigh as she half sat half leaned in the chair.

"Elizabeth, the nurses told me you didn't sleep well last night. Any particular reason?"

"My roommate reeks of urine." Elizabeth said. This was partially a lie. Her roommate smelt of urine but after spending two and half months in a cage with no toilet the smell of urine, fecal matter, and vomit no longer bothered her. She had been up half the night with nightmares. Flashes of her time with Cuvier kept returning to her. There was blood so much blood too much blood.

"What do you mean by that? As far I know Sue Perkins does not have bladder trouble."

"Well you might want to check again because she certainly stank of urine when she arrived last night. What don't you give them a bathroom down in solitary?" Elizabeth saw Dr. Gullenrow's teeth clench together behind his closed lips. "If that's the case give them a shower before you bring them back up."

"You are in no position to judge how we run this facility."

"If I'm a patient I think I am. It is bad enough you're infringing on the establishment clause but now you're saying you don't provide a place to relieve yourself in solitary. That's inhumane. That's not going to help anyone. For that matter why the fuck am I even here?"

"Because you were declared criminally insane. I thought that was obvious." He said a definite bit to his voice.

"No, why am I _here_? Why aren't I in Arkham? As far as I can tell they treat their patients better even with the beatings."

"Special arrangements were made and you better count yourself lucky. So stop complaining and stop asking questions this is your therapy session. Now I know you're lying about smell keeping you up, the nurses said you were screaming in your sleep. What kept you up? And no bullshit trying to be smarter than me, you're no Riddler or Scarecrow or Joker you're just a common criminal."

Elizabeth stared at him her eyes narrowed. When the hell did he grow a pair? And she wasn't trying to be smarter than him she was just pointing out the obvious, coming to logical conclusions. If that threatened him so much he wasn't fit to be a doctor; but if he wanted to know so badly… "I was having nightmares, flashbacks, to what happened."

The sentence didn't have the effect she hoped for. Instead of prying further he simply nodded and made a note on his clipboard. She thought he was going to ask her for details, details that she would have given just to scare him for yelling at her like that.

"Thank you; see how good it is when you cooperate? Now yesterday we left off after you entered the pit fight, tell me what were you feeling during the fight?"

"I was already asked that doc, don't bore me."

"You were asked that during your psychological exam yes, but I am asking you now."

"Pain, one of the men stabbed me in shoulder."

"And what happened after you were stabbed?"

"I gave the man who stabbed me a compound fracture of the elbow and the last man fainted. I won the fight."

"No, I meant psychologically what happened? You mentioned to the evaluator that you had a psychotic break during it."

"Oh yes just a small one."

"What do you mean by small one?"

"Well it wasn't that long and I can mostly remember what happened, as I said earlier gave a man a compound fracture etc."

"Can you describe this state?"

"Dream-like, I could see everything I was doing but it wasn't real, it was like I was floating outside my body just a little bit." Dr. Gullenrow wrote some more on his clipboard and underlined whatever it was.

"So you won the fight, did you get the information you needed from Falcone?"

"Yes, we came to a deal, he would find Cuvier for me and I would remove a few men under his competition's employ."

"The men at the docks?"

Elizabeth smirked. "Look at you connecting dots." Gullenrow's hand tightened on his pen.

"Those men did nothing to you and you killed them in cold blood."

"I get phone calls right?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I want to call my Sister, I never did apologize to her for what happened at the Vreeland ball. She's dating Antonio Costa, you know, the heir to the Maroni mob. I don't see why she was mad at me for dating Edward."

"Elizabeth."

"Oh, that's a better idea. I want to call Edward."

"No." His voice was so cold and the strength behind the word was impressive enough for Elizabeth raise an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"Access to the Riddler—Mr. Nygma—will be detrimental to your recovery."

"Don't bullshit me; I know my biggest problem now is that I'm going through acute traumatic stress disorder. I went through it before. Edward would in fact help as people with strong social support systems often get over trauma faster, it's why—why I talked to Alyssa every day after I was attacked by those wolves. So let me talk to him unless you want this to develop into PTSD, Doctor."

"No." Elizabeth's eyebrow quirked in annoyance and then all emotion slid off her face. "We will continue. After you made arrangements with Falcone what did you do?"

Elizabeth didn't answer.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth, answer me." Elizabeth's eyes burrowed into his their golden hue glinting with her answer. No.

"Fine, if you're not going to cooperate." He opened the door and two orderlies came in. "She is being uncooperative and is to spend the rest of the day in her room. Cuff her to the bed to enforce this."

* * *

"So what did you do to get the doc so upset?" Sue asked Elizabeth that evening when she had returned to the room. Elizabeth estimated she had been cuffed to the bed for at least five hours maybe more. Sure she had gone longer stretches in the hospital but she had had a television to distract her. Here there was nothing except a mind that was constantly on the verge of a flashback.

"I said what 'cha do?" Sue had taken up the position of kneeling by Elizabeth's bedside and leaning against the mattress head on her hands. Her actions were child-like even though she looked to be over 40 years old.

"Noncooperation." Elizabeth finally said.

"Oh that's no fun, here let me get you out of there." Before Elizabeth could protest Sue had undone the cuffs holding her hands and feet in place.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked sitting up rubbing her wrists and ankles.

"Because we never got a chance to introduce ourselves, and Dr. Gullenrow can be such a meany sometimes." Sue moved away and sat on her own bed. "So, what did you do to get locked up in here?"

"I killed about 14 people during a psychotic break; I can't keep count but yeah 14 or so."

"Wow…you're going to hell for sure."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open in a disbelieving smile. "What?"

"Killing that many people God won't forgive that, murder's a mortal sin."

"Wow…" _A whole new kind of crazy. _"So what did you do?" A sudden change came over Sue. Her expression froze making her look like a plastic doll. Her child-esque demeanor transformed into one of upmost severity.

"I saved them." She said her voice harsh and very defensive.

"Saved who?"

"The devil had them, I saw it. I saw it, in their eyes. God told me to, I'm a messenger of God. He told me how to save them. Now my babies are in Heaven safe in God's arms."

"Your babies…you killed your children?"

The woman's eyes widened then narrowed in fury. "I saved them! I saved them from the devil."

"You saved them!? You killed them! You're a murderer just like me!" Elizabeth snarled. This woman was disgusting. How could she kill her own children! How could a mother be so cruel?

"Devil! Devil! Your face is the devil!" Sue was shrieking.

Elizabeth was on her feet and pinning Sue to the bed before she even realized it. "You monster. Children are a gift! How could you kill them?"

A wad of spit hit Elizabeth's cheek and she let go of Sue backing up a few paces. "See the devil! You cannot withstand my holy spit!" Another wad hit Elizabeth's chest right in the center. "Back devil!"

"Fuck this." Elizabeth swore under her breath. Sue was laughing. "You ungrateful cretin, you were lucky enough to have children but you killed them. Monster."

Another wad of spit hit her stomach. Elizabeth roared. "Child killer!" Her fist hit the spitting woman's cheek with such a force that she spun to fall face first on her bed and blood to fly from her mouth and nose. It was at that moment that a nurse decided to open the door. The tray of food she was carrying fell from her hands with a clatter. Elizabeth didn't move an inch. She was staring down at Sue who was groaning on the bed clutching her face. The nurse was calling for help but Elizabeth paid her no mind.

"How did you kill them?" She growled.

"I do not answer to the Devil."

"I said how!?"

"I washed the Devil out of them with a baptism," Sue cried out.

The orderlies had arrived. They grabbed Isabel's arms pulling them behind her back forcing her into a straitjacket. She didn't struggle.

Her heels dragged against the ceramic titles of the medical center's floor. She wasn't struggling just once again not cooperating. A ding of an elevator met her ears and the two orderlies pulled her inside. They were moving downwards. Elizabeth's room was on the third floor but they went down at least five. The basement. Another ding. She was pushed out the doors and down a dark hallway. They passed two occupied cells. Inside patients were crying to themselves. Down here Elizabeth could smell all manner of human stench.

They reached the third cell. One of the orderlies opened it and the other shoved her inside. The door slammed behind her. Elizabeth sat up. Her heart was beginning to pound. She was in a cage.

* * *

Mike Gullenrow always hated going down to the solitary cells. It was dark damp and reeked of the unclean. When he had been told Elizabeth had attacked her roommate he had just left work for the night. He may not have had a wife or kids to go back to in his small river side apartment but he did not want to go back to the medical center. As such he had ordered them to keep Elizabeth in solitary overnight. Mike had had enough of her for one day.

She was such an impudent child. Demanding to speak to the Riddler like that, daring to self-diagnosis herself. It didn't matter if she was correct or not. As a psychoanalytic psychologist he knew Elizabeth was just repressing those memories she didn't want to face. That is what was causing her stress, the flashbacks were the memories trying to leak through, any nightmares she was having was her subconscious trying to show her the truth. Couldn't she see he was trying to help her?

Currently Elizabeth had been down in solitary for 16 hours he had told the orderlies to fetch her an hour ago for their therapy session but they had returned telling him that Elizabeth was acting violently towards them. So now Mike was heading down the elevator with three orderlies to try and coax Elizabeth out. When the elevator doors opened he was overcome by the stench of piss and shit. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his box of smelling salts and put a dab under each nostril. The scent of the salts was chalky and far easier to handle than the acidic smell of the solitary confinement hallway. They went down the hall and when they reached the third cell an orderly went to open it.

"Wait." Mike commanded. He approached the small window of the cell and peered inside. "Elizabeth?"

"Stop. Stop. I can't. Don't make me. No. No. No more." The voice came out of the darkness it soft timid and if he didn't know better he wouldn't have recognized it as Elizabeth's.

"Was she like this before you arrived?"

"Yes, the nurse who came by on her rounds last night said she's been this way since at least 10pm last night."

"Which probably means she didn't sleep either, great. Alright unlock the door now." The orderly unlocked the door and Mike stepped inside.

"Elizabeth."

"No," she moaned trying to move away from him but she was already pressed against the back corner and curled in a ball as much as she could. "Edward help me. No, stay away. Please no more…no more tests. Just kill me."

Mike crouched down in front of Elizabeth. "Elizabeth. Look at me. I'm not Cuvier."

Slowly Elizabeth's head lifted. "D-doctor?"

"Yes, it's me Dr. Gullenrow."

Her mouth twitched up in to a half smile. "I'm safe? Not there?"

"Yes, you're just in a solitary confinement cell."

"Edward, need Edward."

"No."

"…Want to tell you…" Her voice was soft.

He leaned in. Was he finally going to make progress? "Tell me what?"

"Got your nose."

"Wha—" His confusion was quickly ended when Elizabeth struck. Her teeth clamped down like a vice on his nose. He screamed blood was pouring into his mouth. His own blood! Elizabeth launched herself from her curled up position pinning him to the ground. Her head was turning this way and that forcing her teeth deeper into his flesh. The feet of the orderlies pounded on the ground around the pair. They were trying to get Elizabeth off but none of them had any sedative and the blows to the back of her head weren't working.

Finally Elizabeth's head jerked back taking a good portion of his nose with her. The orderlies pulled Elizabeth off him. He was lying on the ground groaning his hands covering his blood soaked face. She still had his flesh in her mouth and she was chewing on it. One of the other orderlies helped the doctor to his feet.

"You bitch," he managed to get out as the orderly steadied him. Elizabeth stopped her chewing and spit the mangled chucks before him.

"Transfer me to Arkham."

* * *

Edward Nygma could be a very patient man if he wanted to be. Right now he did not want to be. It had been nearly two weeks since he had saved Elizabeth. Two long painfully boring weeks. The only information he had about Elizabeth's condition was gleaned from his lawyer, Peterson. The man was useless at conveying information. He hadn't even thought to ask Elizabeth if there was a message she wanted him to tell Edward. All Edward knew was that Elizabeth had taken and won an insanity plea and she had been, for an unknown reason, sent to Williams Medical Center for treatment. Peterson hadn't told him anything else.

"Edward…Edward are you listening to me?" Dr. Leeland's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Nitrogen Oxygen." Edward replied. For the past two weeks Dr. Leeland had been a nosey and annoying; constantly asking him about Elizabeth and what went on between the two of them. If he didn't know better Edward would have said the good doctor had a little crush on Elizabeth, or perhaps even him. He refused to give up any information of course and now the last few sessions had become repeats of themselves, the same questions over and over again.

"I didn't think so. Edward I'm going to ask you again, what is Elizabeth to you?"

"I would think you'd be bored of asking me the same questions over and over again."

"I am used to your stubbornness Edward. Why did you give Elizabeth use of your lawyer?"

"Ooh a new one; I'll answer that for originality. I told Peterson to take on her case because he's good and wouldn't judge her for the way she kills; it's hard to have a lawyer that's sickened by the thought of the crimes he's defending you against."

"Are you sickened by the way she kills?"

"Of course but as far as I am aware so is she, I wouldn't know for sure though as you won't let me talk to her."

"I told you before, the police forbade any contact between the two of you and now her doctor has kept the ban in place."

"You know as well as I do Dr. Gullenrow is a sour old fool."

"That may be Edward but it is out of my hands. I—" A sharp knock at the door cut her off. "Come in."

The door opened revealing one of the receptionists from the front desk flanked by two guards. "Dr. Leeland, you wanted to know if I heard anything about Miss Howard right away." Her eyes were flickering back and forth between Leeland and Edward.

"Yes…" Dr. Leeland looked at Edward who raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Edward if you'll excuse me for a moment."

As Dr. Leeland left Edward frowned. How dare she keep such information from him? She was planning on holding it over his head he knew, force him to answer her questions by promising news of Elizabeth. Although he had not told Dr. Leeland of their relationship he knew she had talked to Gordon and most likely Batman about what had happened on the GCPD rooftop.

The door opened again and Dr. Leeland came back in her face almost grim. Had something happened to Elizabeth? "We're going to end our session for today Edward. Guards bring him back to his cell, take the short way."

"Now hang on, what happened Leeland?" Edward was speaking around the guards as they cuffed him and pulled him up on to his feet. "I said what happened, Leeland! Tell me what happened to Elizabeth!"

Leeland held up a hand to stop the guards. "You'll find out soon enough."

"What the hell does that mean!?" Edward shouted astonished at her audacity to not even give him a chance to figure out what had happened. The guards pushed him out of the room and down the stark white hallway. They were headed towards the front doors. As Leeland had told them, the short way. The short way meant crossing the front courtyard instead of the winding tunnels under the buildings. It also meant a better chance of escape which is why the guards rarely took inmates that way.

The glare of the outside blinded Edward for a moment when they stepped outside. It wasn't a sunny day but compared to the windowless walls of Arkham it was an uncomfortable brightness. In the courtyard with them was a large white van. Orderlies and guards surrounded it all of them on high alert. The guards escorting Edward lead him around the back side of the van as to allow the others to work uninterrupted. Edward watched curiously as the back door to the van opened. From inside three people stepped out two of them guiding the third.

"Elizabeth?" He whispered disbelievingly. "Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth looked up. Her eyes were glazed over from chemical restraints. Around her mouth Edward saw the traces of blood.

"Elizabeth," he called out trying to head towards her but his two guards held him fast. She was being led away into the patient check-in building. His guards began pushing him towards the door that would lead to the high security cells. Edward didn't resist Elizabeth was here and he would see her again.

* * *

**Alright, I could talk about Gotham but I won't. Instead what are some of your favorite comic book arcs/titles? Doesn't have to be Batman/DC and if you don't have comics what are some of the ones you'd like to read?**

**My favs would have to be 'Hush', 'No Man's Land', the 'Killing Joke', 'Year One: Scarecrow' and 'Pride and Prejudice'. 'No Man's Land' is super long but the others I would encourage everyone to read.**


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